![William Hogarth - A Rake's Progress - Plate 1 - The Young Heir Takes Possession Of The Miser's Effects](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1c/William_Hogarth_-_A_Rake%27s_Progress_-_Plate_1_-_The_Young_Heir_Takes_Possession_Of_The_Miser%27s_Effects.jpg)
Inheritance is the practice of receiving
private property
Private property is a legal designation for the ownership of property by non-governmental legal entities. Private property is distinguishable from public property and personal property, which is owned by a state entity, and from collective or ...
,
titles
A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the f ...
,
debt
Debt is an obligation that requires one party, the debtor, to pay money or other agreed-upon value to another party, the creditor. Debt is a deferred payment, or series of payments, which differentiates it from an immediate purchase. The ...
s,
entitlement
An entitlement is a provision made in accordance with a legal framework of a society. Typically, entitlements are based on concepts of principle ("rights") which are themselves based in concepts of social equality or enfranchisement.
In psychology ...
s,
privileges,
rights
Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical the ...
, and
obligations
An obligation is a course of action that someone is required to take, whether legal or moral. Obligations are constraints; they limit freedom. People who are under obligations may choose to freely act under obligations. Obligation exists when ther ...
upon the
death
Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...
of an
individual
An individual is that which exists as a distinct entity. Individuality (or self-hood) is the state or quality of being an individual; particularly (in the case of humans) of being a person unique from other people and possessing one's own Maslow ...
. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Officially
bequeathing private property and/or debts can be performed by a
testator
A testator () is a person who has written and executed a Will (law), last will and testament that is in effect at the time of their death. It is any "person who makes a will."Gordon Brown, ''Administration of Wills, Trusts, and Estates'', 3d ed. (2 ...
via
will
Will may refer to:
Common meanings
* Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death
* Will (philosophy), or willpower
* Will (sociology)
* Will, volition (psychology)
* Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will
...
, as attested by a
notary
A notary is a person authorised to perform acts in legal affairs, in particular witnessing signatures on documents. The form that the notarial profession takes varies with local legal systems.
A notary, while a legal professional, is disti ...
or by other lawful means.
Terminology
In law, an ''heir'' is a person who is entitled to receive a share of the
deceased
Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...
's (the person who died) property, subject to the rules of inheritance in the
jurisdiction
Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels.
Jur ...
of which the deceased was a citizen or where the deceased (decedent) died or owned property at the time of death.
The inheritance may be either under the terms of a will or by
intestate
Intestacy is the condition of the estate of a person who dies without having in force a valid will or other binding declaration. Alternatively this may also apply where a will or declaration has been made, but only applies to part of the estat ...
laws if the deceased had no will. However, the will must comply with the laws of the jurisdiction at the time it was created or it will be declared invalid (for example, some states do not recognise
handwritten wills as valid, or only in specific circumstances) and the intestate laws then apply.
The exclusion from inheritance of a person who was an heir in a previous will, or would otherwise be expected to inherit, is termed "disinheritance".
A person does not become an heir before the death of the deceased, since the exact identity of the persons entitled to inherit is determined only then. Members of ruling noble or royal houses who are expected to become heirs are called
heirs apparent
An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...
if first in line and incapable of being displaced from inheriting by another claim; otherwise, they are
heirs presumptive
An heir presumptive is the person entitled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of an heir apparent or a new heir presumptive with a better claim to the position in question.
...
. There is a further concept of joint inheritance, pending renunciation by all but one, which is called
coparceny.
In modern law, the terms ''inheritance'' and ''heir'' refer exclusively to succession to property by descent from a deceased dying
intestate
Intestacy is the condition of the estate of a person who dies without having in force a valid will or other binding declaration. Alternatively this may also apply where a will or declaration has been made, but only applies to part of the estat ...
. Takers in property succeeded to under a will are termed generally ''
beneficiaries
A beneficiary (also, in trust law, '' cestui que use'') in the broadest sense is a natural person or other legal entity who receives money or other benefits from a benefactor. For example, the beneficiary of a life insurance policy is the perso ...
,'' and specifically ''devises'' for
real property
In English common law, real property, real estate, immovable property or, solely in the US and Canada, realty, is land which is the property of some person and all structures (also called improvements or fixtures) integrated with or affixe ...
, ''bequests'' for
personal property
property is property that is movable. In common law systems, personal property may also be called chattels or personalty. In civil law systems, personal property is often called movable property or movables—any property that can be moved fr ...
(except money), or ''legatees'' for money.
Except in some jurisdictions where a person cannot be legally disinherited (such as the United States state of
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
, which allows disinheritance only under specifically enumerated circumstances), a person who would be an heir under intestate laws may be disinherited completely under the terms of a will (an example is that of the will of comedian
Jerry Lewis
Jerry Lewis (born Joseph Levitch; March 16, 1926 – August 20, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, singer, filmmaker and humanitarian. As his contributions to comedy and charity made him a global figure in popular culture, pop culture ...
; his will specifically disinherited his six children by his first wife, and their descendants, leaving his entire estate to his second wife).
History
Detailed
anthropological
Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behavi ...
and
sociological
Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation and ...
studies have been made about customs of patrimonial inheritance, where only male children can inherit. Some cultures also employ
matrilineal
Matrilineality is the tracing of kinship through the female line. It may also correlate with a social system in which each person is identified with their matriline – their mother's Lineage (anthropology), lineage – and which can in ...
succession, where property can only pass along the female line, most commonly going to the sister's sons of the decedent; but also, in some societies, from the mother to her daughters. Some ancient societies and most modern states employ egalitarian inheritance, without discrimination based on gender and/or birth order.
Religious laws about inheritance
Jewish laws
The inheritance is patrimonial. The father —that is, the owner of the land— bequeaths only to his male descendants, so the Promised Land passes from one Jewish father to his sons. According to the
Law of Moses
The Law of Moses ( he, תֹּורַת מֹשֶׁה ), also called the Mosaic Law, primarily refers to the Torah or the first five books of the Hebrew Bible. The law revealed to Moses by God.
Terminology
The Law of Moses or Torah of Moses (Hebrew ...
, the
firstborn son
Primogeniture ( ) is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn legitimate child to inherit the parent's entire or main estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some children, any illegitimate child or any collateral relativ ...
was entitled to receive twice as much of his father's inheritance as the other sons ().
If there were no living sons and no descendants of any previously living sons, daughters inherit. In Numbers 27, the daughters of Zelophehad (Mahlah, Noa, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah) of the tribe of Manasseh come to Moses and ask for their father's inheritance, as they have no brothers. The order of inheritance is set out: a man's sons inherit first, daughters if no sons, brothers if he has no children, and so on.
Later, in Numbers 36, some of the heads of the families of the tribe of Manasseh come to Moses and point out that, if a daughter inherits and then marries a man not from her paternal tribe, her land will pass from her birth-tribe's inheritance into her marriage-tribe's. So a further rule is laid down: if a daughter inherits land, she must marry someone within her father's tribe. (The daughters of Zelophehad marry the sons' of their father's brothers. There is no indication that this was not their choice.)
The tractate
Baba Bathra
Bava Batra (also Baba Batra; Talmudic Aramaic: בָּבָא בַּתְרָא "The Last Gate") is the third of the three Talmudic tractates in the Talmud in the order Nezikin; it deals with a person's responsibilities and rights as the owner of pr ...
, written during late Antiquity in Babylon, deals extensively with issues of property ownership and inheritance according to Jewish Law. Other works of Rabbinical Law, such as the Hilkhot naḥalot: mi-sefer Mishneh Torah leha-Rambam,
and the
Sefer Sefer may refer to:
* Sefer (Hebrew), a term for a book
People with the surname
* Franjo Šefer (born 1905), Yugoslav tennis player
* Bela Šefer, Yugoslav footballer playing in 1924
People with the forename
* Sefer Reis, Turkish privateer and Ot ...
ha-yerushot: ʻim yeter ha-mikhtavim be-divre ha-halakhah be-ʻAravit uve-ʻIvrit uve-Aramit also deal with inheritance issues. The first, often abbreviated to
Mishneh Torah
The ''Mishneh Torah'' ( he, מִשְׁנֵה תּוֹרָה, , repetition of the Torah), also known as ''Sefer Yad ha-Hazaka'' ( he, ספר יד החזקה, , book of the strong hand, label=none), is a code of Rabbinic Jewish religious law (''h ...
, was written by
Maimonides
Musa ibn Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (); la, Moses Maimonides and also referred to by the acronym Rambam ( he, רמב״ם), was a Sephardic Jewish philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah ...
and was very important in
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
tradition.
All these sources agree that the firstborn son is entitled to a double portion of his father's estate. This means that, for example, if a father left five sons, the firstborn receives a third of the estate and each of the other four receives a sixth. If he left nine sons, the firstborn receives a fifth and each of the other eight receive a tenth.
If the eldest surviving son is not the firstborn son, he is not entitled to the double portion.
Philo of Alexandria
Philo of Alexandria (; grc, Φίλων, Phílōn; he, יְדִידְיָה, Yəḏīḏyāh (Jedediah); ), also called Philo Judaeus, was a Hellenistic Jewish philosopher who lived in Alexandria, in the Roman province of Egypt.
Philo's deplo ...
and
Josephus
Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for ''The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly d ...
also comment on the
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
laws of inheritance, praising them above other law codes of their time. They also agreed that the firstborn son must receive a double portion of his father's estate.
Christian laws
At first, Christianity did not have its own inheritance traditions distinct from Judaism. With the accession of
Emperor Constantine
Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to convert to Christianity. Born in Naissus, Dacia Mediterranea ...
in 306, Christians both began to distance themselves from Judaism and to have influence on the law and practices of secular institutions. From the beginning, this included inheritance. The Roman practice of
adoption
Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person's biological or legal parent or parents. Legal adoptions permanently transfer all rights and responsibilities, along with filiation, from ...
was a specific target, because it was perceived to be in conflict with the Judeo-Christian doctrine of
primogeniture
Primogeniture ( ) is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn legitimate child to inherit the parent's entire or main estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some children, any illegitimate child or any collateral relativ ...
. As Stephanie Coontz documents in ''Marriage, a History'' (Penguin, 2006), not only succession but the whole constellation of rights and practices that included marriage, adoption, legitimacy, consanguinity, and inheritance changed in Western Europe from a Greco-Roman model to a Judeo-Christian pattern, based on Biblical and traditional Judeo-Christian principles. The transformation was essentially complete in the Middle Ages, although in English-speaking countries there was additional development under the influence of
Protestantism
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
. Even when Europe became secularized and Christianity faded into the background, the legal foundation Christendom had laid remained. Only in the era of modern jurisprudence have there been significant changes.
Islamic laws
The
Quran
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...
introduced a number of different rights and restrictions on matters of inheritance, including general improvements to the treatment of women and family life compared to the pre-Islamic societies that existed in the Arabian Peninsula at the time.
Furthermore, the Quran introduced additional heirs that were not entitled to inheritance in pre-Islamic times, mentioning nine relatives specifically of which six were female and three were male. However, the inheritance rights of women remained inferior to those of men because in Islam someone always has a responsibility of looking after a woman's expenses. According to
Quran 4:11, for example, a son is entitled to twice as much inheritance as a daughter. The Quran also presented efforts to fix the laws of inheritance, and thus forming a complete legal system. This development was in contrast to pre-Islamic societies where rules of inheritance varied considerably.
In addition to the above changes, the Quran imposed restrictions on
testamentary
A testator () is a person who has written and executed a last will and testament that is in effect at the time of their death. It is any "person who makes a will."Gordon Brown, ''Administration of Wills, Trusts, and Estates'', 3d ed. (2003), p. 556 ...
powers of a
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
in disposing his or her property.
Three verses of the Quran, 4:11, 4:12 and 4:176, give specific details of inheritance and shares, in addition to few other verses dealing with testamentary. But this information was used as a starting point by Muslim jurists who expounded the laws of inheritance even further using
Hadith
Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approval ...
, as well as methods of juristic reasoning like
Qiyas
In Islamic jurisprudence, qiyas ( ar, قياس , "analogy") is the process of deductive analogy in which the teachings of the hadith are compared and contrasted with those of the Quran, in order to apply a known injunction ('' nass'') to a new ...
. Nowadays, inheritance is considered an integral part of
Sharia law
Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the Five Pillars of Islam, religious precepts of Islam and is based on the Islamic holy books, sacred scriptures o ...
and its application for Muslims is mandatory, though many peoples (see
Historical inheritance systems
Historical inheritance systems are different systems of inheritance among various people.
Detailed anthropological and sociological studies have been made about customs of patrilineal inheritance, where only male children can inherit. Some culture ...
), despite being Muslim, have other inheritance customs.
Inequality
![Inheritance by amount and distribution received and action taken with inheritances in Great Britain between 2008 and 2010](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/Inheritance_by_amount_and_distribution_received_and_action_taken_with_inheritances_in_Great_Britain_between_2008_and_2010.png)
The distribution of the inherited wealth has varied greatly among different cultures and legal traditions. In nations using
civil law, for example, the right of children to inherit wealth from parents in pre-defined ratios is enshrined in law, as far back as the
Code of Hammurabi
The Code of Hammurabi is a Babylonian legal text composed 1755–1750 BC. It is the longest, best-organised, and best-preserved legal text from the ancient Near East. It is written in the Old Babylonian dialect of Akkadian, purportedly by Hamm ...
(ca. 1750 BC). In the US State of Louisiana, the only US state where the legal system is derived from the
Napoleonic Code, this system is known as "
forced heirship
Forced heirship is a form of testate partible inheritance which mandates how the deceased's estate (law), estate is to be disposed and which tends to guarantee an inheritance for family of the deceased.
In forced heirship, the estate of a deceas ...
" which prohibits disinheritance of adult children except for a few narrowly-defined reasons that a parent is obligated to prove. Other legal traditions, particularly in nations using
common law
In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipresen ...
, allow inheritances to be divided however one wishes, or to disinherit any child for any reason.
In cases of unequal inheritance, the majority might receive little while only a small number inherit a larger amount. The amount of inheritance is often far less than the value of a business initially given to the son, especially when a son takes over a thriving multimillion-dollar business, yet the daughter is given the balance of the actual inheritance amounting to far less than the value of business that was initially given to the son. This is especially seen in old world cultures, but continues in many families to this day.
Arguments for eliminating forced heirship include the right to property and the merit of individual allocation of capital over government wealth confiscation and redistribution, but this does not resolve what some describe as the problem of unequal inheritance. In terms of inheritance inequality, some economists and sociologists focus on the inter generational transmission of income or wealth which is said to have a direct impact on one's mobility (or immobility) and class position in society. Nations differ on the political structure and policy options that govern the transfer of wealth.
According to the American federal government statistics compiled by Mark Zandi in 1985, the average US inheritance was $39,000. In subsequent years, the overall amount of total annual inheritance more than doubled, reaching nearly $200 billion. By 2050, there will be an estimated $25 trillion inheritance transmitted across generations.
[Marable, Manning. "Letter From America: Inheritance, Wealth and Race.]
Google pages.com
Some researchers have attributed this rise to the
baby boomer
Baby boomers, often shortened to boomers, are the Western demographic cohort following the Silent Generation and preceding Generation X. The generation is often defined as people born from 1946 to 1964, during the mid-20th century baby boom. T ...
generation. Historically, the baby boomers were the largest influx of children conceived after WW2. For this reason,
Thomas Shapiro
Thomas M. Shapiro (born 1947) is a professor of Sociology and Public Policy at Brandeis University and is the author ''The Hidden Cost of Being African American'' and the co-author of ''Black Wealth/White Wealth''. Shapiro's current professional ...
suggests that this generation "is in the midst of benefiting from the greatest inheritance of wealth in history". Inherited wealth may help explain why many Americans who have become rich may have had a "substantial head start".
In September 2012, according to the
Institute for Policy Studies
The Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) is an American progressive think tank started in 1963 that is based in Washington, D.C. It was directed by John Cavanagh from 1998 to 2021. In 2021 Tope Folarin was announced as new Executive Director. ...
, "over 60 percent" of the
Forbes richest 400 Americans "grew up in substantial privilege", and often (but not always) received substantial inheritances.
Other research has shown that many inheritances, large or small, are rapidly squandered. Similarly, analysis shows that over two-thirds of high-wealth families lose their wealth within two generations, and almost 80% of high-wealth parents "feel the next generation is not financially responsible enough to handle inheritance".
Social stratification
It has been argued that inheritance plays a significant effect on
social stratification
Social stratification refers to a society's categorization of its people into groups based on socioeconomic factors like wealth, income, race, education, ethnicity, gender, occupation, social status, or derived power (social and political). As ...
. Inheritance is an integral component of family, economic, and legal institutions, and a basic mechanism of
class stratification
Class stratification is a form of social stratification in which a society is separated into parties whose members have different access to resources and power. An economic, natural, cultural, religious, interests and ideal rift usually exists be ...
. It also affects the
distribution of wealth
The distribution of wealth is a comparison of the wealth of various members or groups in a society. It shows one aspect of economic inequality or economic heterogeneity.
The distribution of wealth differs from the income distribution in that ...
at the societal level. The total cumulative effect of inheritance on stratification outcomes takes three forms, according to scholars who have examined the subject.
The first form of inheritance is the inheritance of
cultural capital
In the field of sociology, cultural capital comprises the social assets of a person (education, intellect, style of speech, style of dress, etc.) that promote social mobility in a stratified society. Cultural capital functions as a social relat ...
(i.e. linguistic styles, higher status social circles, and aesthetic preferences).
[(Edited By) Miller, Robert K., McNamee, Stephen J. Inheritance and Wealth in America. p. 2] The second form of inheritance is through familial interventions in the form of ''inter vivos'' transfers (i.e. gifts between the living), especially at crucial junctures in the life courses. Examples include during a child's milestone stages, such as going to college, getting married, getting a job, and purchasing a home.
The third form of inheritance is the transfers of bulk estates at the time of death of the testators, thus resulting in significant economic advantage accruing to children during their adult years. The origin of the stability of inequalities is material (personal possessions one is able to obtain) and is also cultural, rooted either in varying child-rearing practices that are geared to socialization according to social class and economic position. Child-rearing practices among those who inherit wealth may center around favoring some groups at the expense of others at the bottom of the
social hierarchy
Social stratification refers to a society's categorization of its people into groups based on socioeconomic factors like wealth, income, race, education, ethnicity, gender, occupation, social status, or derived power (social and political). As su ...
.
Sociological and economic effects of inheritance inequality
It is further argued that the degree to which economic status and inheritance is transmitted across generations determines one's life chances in society. Although many have linked one's social origins and educational attainment to life chances and opportunities, education cannot serve as the most influential predictor of
economic mobility
Economic mobility is the ability of an individual, family or some other group to improve (or lower) their economic status—usually measured in income. Economic mobility is often measured by movement between income quintiles. Economic mobility ...
. In fact, children of well-off parents generally receive better schooling and benefit from material, cultural, and genetic inheritances. Likewise, schooling attainment is often persistent across generations and families with higher amounts of inheritance are able to acquire and transmit higher amounts of human capital. Lower amounts of human capital and inheritance can perpetuate inequality in the housing market and higher education. Research reveals that inheritance plays an important role in the accumulation of housing wealth. Those who receive an inheritance are more likely to own a home than those who do not regardless of the size of the inheritance.
Often, racial or religious minorities and individuals from socially disadvantaged backgrounds receive less inheritance and wealth. As a result, mixed races might be excluded in inheritance privilege and are more likely to rent homes or live in poorer neighborhoods, as well as achieve lower educational attainment compared with whites in America. Individuals with a substantial amount of wealth and inheritance often intermarry with others of the same social class to protect their wealth and ensure the continuous transmission of inheritance across generations; thus perpetuating a cycle of privilege.
Nations with the highest
income
Income is the consumption and saving opportunity gained by an entity within a specified timeframe, which is generally expressed in monetary terms. Income is difficult to define conceptually and the definition may be different across fields. For ...
and
wealth inequalities often have the highest rates of homicide and disease (such as obesity, diabetes, and hypertension) which results in high mortality rates. A ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' article reveals that the U.S. is the world's wealthiest nation, but "ranks twenty-ninth in life expectancy, right behind Jordan and Bosnia" and "has the second highest mortality rate of the comparable OECD countries". This has been regarded as highly attributed to the significant gap of inheritance inequality in the country, although there are clearly other factors such as the affordability of
healthcare
Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health profe ...
.
When social and economic inequalities centered on inheritance are perpetuated by major social institutions such as family, education, religion, etc., these differing life opportunities are argued to be transmitted from each generation. As a result, this inequality is believed to become part of the overall social structure.
Dynastic wealth
Dynastic wealth is monetary inheritance that is passed on to generations that didn't earn it. Dynastic wealth is linked to the term
Plutocracy
A plutocracy () or plutarchy is a society that is ruled or controlled by people of great wealth or income. The first known use of the term in English dates from 1631. Unlike most political systems, plutocracy is not rooted in any established ...
. Much has been written about the rise and influence of dynastic wealth including the bestselling book ''
Capital in the Twenty-First Century
''Capital in the Twenty-First Century'' (french: Le Capital au XXIe siècle) is a book written by French economist Thomas Piketty. It focuses on wealth and income inequality in Europe and the United States since the 18th century. It was initially ...
'' by the French economist
Thomas Piketty
Thomas Piketty (; born 7 May 1971) is a French economist who is Professor of Economics at the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences, Associate Chair at the Paris School of Economics and Centennial Professor of Economics in the Int ...
.
Bill Gates
William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American business magnate and philanthropist. He is a co-founder of Microsoft, along with his late childhood friend Paul Allen. During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions ...
uses the term in his article "Why Inequality Matters".
[BILL GATES]
"Why Inequality Matters"
"LinkedIn", 15 October 2014
Soviet response to inheritance
As
Communism
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
is founded on the
Marxist
Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...
Labor Theory of Value
The labor theory of value (LTV) is a theory of value that argues that the economic value of a good or service is determined by the total amount of " socially necessary labor" required to produce it.
The LTV is usually associated with Marxian e ...
, any money collected in the course of a lifetime is justified if it was based on the fruits of the person's own labor and not from exploiting others. The first communist government installed after the
Russian Revolution
The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...
resolved therefore to abolish the right of inheritance,
with some exceptions.
Taxation
Many states have
inheritance tax
An inheritance tax is a tax paid by a person who inherits money or property of a person who has died, whereas an estate tax is a levy on the estate (money and property) of a person who has died.
International tax law distinguishes between an es ...
es or
estate tax
An inheritance tax is a tax paid by a person who inherits money or property of a person who has died, whereas an estate tax is a levy on the estate (money and property) of a person who has died.
International tax law distinguishes between an es ...
es, under which a portion of any inheritance or estate becomes
government revenue
Government revenue or national revenue is money received by a government from taxes and non-tax sources to enable it to undertake public expenditure. Government revenue as well as government spending are components of the government budget and ...
.
See also
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Beneficiary
A beneficiary (also, in trust law, '' cestui que use'') in the broadest sense is a natural person or other legal entity who receives money or other benefits from a benefactor. For example, the beneficiary of a life insurance policy is the person ...
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Digital inheritance Digital inheritance is the passing down of digital assets to designated (or undesignated) beneficiaries after a person’s death as part of the estate of the deceased. The process includes understanding what digital assets exist and navigating the r ...
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Inheritance law in Canada
Inheritance law in Canada is constitutionally a provincial matter. Therefore, the laws governing inheritance in Canada is legislated by each individual province.
Intestate succession
Where a person dies intestate, the following general rules a ...
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Smart contract
A smart contract is a computer program or a transaction protocol that is intended to automatically execute, control or document events and actions according to the terms of a contract or an agreement. The objectives of smart contracts are the re ...
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Transformative asset
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Estate planning
Estate planning is the process of anticipating and arranging, during a person's life, for the management and disposal of that person's estate during the person's life, in the event the person becomes incapacitated and after death. The planning inc ...
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Family law
Family law (also called matrimonial law or the law of domestic relations) is an area of the law that deals with family matters and domestic relations.
Overview
Subjects that commonly fall under a nation's body of family law include:
* Marriage, ...
References
External links
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26 July 2006 USA Today article on dilemma the rich face when leaving wealth to children
{{Authority control
Scots law legal terminology
Wills and trusts
Ancestors
Social stratification